If you happen to be looking for a new smartphone with Verizon and don’t mind going the refurbished route, you may be interested in hearing this latest offer. It seems Verizon Wireless has begun selling refurbished Galaxy Nexus devices for $229.99. Before anyone runs thinking that sounds expensive — this is a contract-free price. And suddenly that price sounds really nice. Simply put, you can buy a decent smartphone for a price that is in the same ballpark as a contract offering. This seems like a good path for those who want a new smartphone, but are not yet eligible for a renewal.

And sure, this handset is about a year old, but that thought aside, the Galaxy Nexus is still a very capable handset. Plus, it is one of the few that are actually running Jelly Bean at the moment. Some of the other specs for the Verizon Galaxy Nexus include 4G LTE connectivity, a 4.65-inch HD Super AMOLED contoured display, dual-core 1.2GHz processor, 1GB of RAM, 32GB of internal storage space, an 1850 mAh battery, 1.3 megapixel front-facing camera and a 5 megapixel rear-facing camera with LED flash.

Me personally, I had been tempted to wait for the Galaxy Note II to replace my 2nd line device (after I broke my GSIII), however this deal may be hard to pass up. I better get to thinking before these refurbished models run out.

And finally, for those worried about buying refurbished. Verizon notes that “each Certified Pre–Owned device has been thoroughly inspected and reconditioned to like–new condition.” Not to mention, “if the device experiences a manufacturing defect within the first year you own it, we will replace it with a comparable unit.”